APBoston Celtics Jermaine O'Neal (7) blocks a shot by Washington Wizards' Maurice Evans during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Washington, Monday, April 11, 2011. The Wizards won 95-94 in an overtime.

WALTHAM – The image on Jermaine O'Neal's right
biceps is somewhat faded, and done at a time to commemorate a different, harrowing
event in his life that he didn't want to soon forget.

A
Herculean figure that could have fallen out of any Marvel comic book, squatted
down on the ground, arms extended, as if he's trying to break out of a pair
invisible shackles, it appears as though he's carrying the burden of an entire
city's expectations on his shoulders.

The
phrase "Year of the Resurrection" swirls above it in cursive font.

It’s just one of many tattoos that adorn his flesh, and O’Neal can’t recall the exact time or even the city he was in when he received it. Or maybe he just chooses not to reveal the details.

Either
way, it doesn't really matter. After all he's been through this season, the
message applies to 2011 more than it ever has at any time in the past.

"It
better be this year," O'Neal said when asked what year it represented. "I look
at it like every year has been a resurrection year -- being challenged, being knocked
down and getting back up – but I've had a lot of trials and tribulations this
year."

As have
the Boston Celtics. Once considered a juggernaut on the express track to the NBA
Finals, the team is now more of raggedy old passenger train trying to navigate its
way down the green mile.

To get to
the promised land of Banner 18 – or even past the New York Knicks in the first
round of the playoffs – they're going to need his left knee, which limited
him to 24 games and sent him to the operating table Feb. 5, to not only hold up, but
be strong.

When they traded away Kendrick Perkins in a deadline deal, they expected Shaquille O’Neal to be the defensive force in the post, Nenad Krstic to serve as an offensive weapon, and Jermaine O’Neal to come off the bench as the third option.

But with
Krstic struggling to find consistency and Shaquille O'Neal's health doing the
same, the burden is now on Jermaine O'Neal to act as the liaison between 17 and
18.

He says
he's ready for the challenge, but since returning from arthroscopic surgery
March 31, the results haven't always said the same.

He's
reached double digits in points and rebounds only once – both coming in the
team's final road game against Washington where he logged 36 minutes – but he has
been solid at times on defense and says that's the only aspect of the game he
should be judged upon.

"When I
came here, Doc (Rivers) told me that my job now was to play defense," O'Neal
said. "I know people will point and say I failed when I don't get points or
stats, but that's not my job."

"That's
what we want from him," Rivers said. "We aren't worried about scoring – any
points he gets are a plus."

He knows that people think he can’t do it, that with 14 years of mileage on his legs he’s more like 40 in basketball years than his actual age of 33, and that no one believes he can endure the pounding of a seven-game series.

But
that's what the Year of the Resurrection is all about – staring down odds and
persevering.

"People
never wanted to give me a chance. They said I'd be out of the league in two,
three years. Here I am," O'Neal said. "I had to carry a franchise in Indiana
for many, many years – be the face of a community. I'm up for this challenge."